The Zionist Organization of America praised British Prime Minister Theresa May for denouncing the bans by 16 Muslim majority countries against Israelis and other pro-Israel citizens who have visited Israel recently.
May denounced the bans during a House of Commons session Wednesday. The 16 countries include six of seven named in U.S. President Donald Trump’s temporary travel ban, but these countries have a policy of permanently denying visas to Israelis and Jews as well as those from other countries whose passports show they have visited Israel.
The countries involved in the discriminatory practices are Libya, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Syria, Yemen, Algeria, Bangladesh, Brunei, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, according to a news release.
The ZOA hopes other leaders will join May in denouncing the bans.
“It is hypocritical to protest the temporary ban of a few months on travel from the seven ‘countries of concern’ that are hotbeds of radical Islamist terrorism targeting Americans and the West — while ignoring the decades-long anti-Jewish bans by 16 Muslim-majority nations,” the organization said in a statement.
ZOA does note that many of the countries that ban Jews are not advisable to travel to in many cases and that reciprocal bans like the one Iran said it will enact may end up saving Americans’ lives.
The U.S. State Department has long-standing travel warnings for U.S. citizens to avoid the seven countries of concern due to radical Muslim terrorist groups and governments targeting U.S. citizens for kidnapping, unlawful detention, and murder. Many of these countries have no U.S. embassies, and those that do offer only limited help.
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